Fly Casting in the Wind

Wednesday, 6 May 2015 | Simon

One thing you need to think about when fly fishing is casting when the wind is blowing across your body, and how to make side casts and backhanded fly casts. Once you’ve learned the overhead cast (see previous blogs on the topic), it’s easier to understand how a conventional 90 degree casting arc can be tilted toward the wind, or backwards, to take advantage of a following wind.

Once you’ve mastered the overhead cast you need to learn to change the plane of the rod from vertical towards the horizontal. This lets you cast beneath tree canopies or other obstructions. Your casting action can be the same as the overhead, although you are altering the plane of attack. Side casts also allow the arc to being extended, just so long as the tip of the rod is rising from the horizontal on the back cast when it is stopped. This action ensures that the line is propelled upwards.

Expressed in text like this these casting techniques sound a little like slow motion fencing, and in some respects they are. You have to use your brains, muscle memory, instincts and great timing every bit as much as one of the Three Musketeers if you’re going to be an expert in fly fishing.